guantanmofandomcom-20200214-history
Heather Cerveny
Sergeant Heather Cerveny is a member of the United States Marine Corps, and a paralegal. Cerveny who submitted an affidavit describing boasts of abusive treatment meted out to detainees held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. Marine says morale miserable at Guantanamo Bay prison, San Jose Mercury, October 13, 2006 Cerveny's affidavit (.pdf), October 4, 2006 Her claims were rejected by a military investigator and she was later accused of making a false statement.never charged. Now stationed in Washington DC.Military: No Gitmo Guard Abuse Evident, U.S. Military Investigation Reports No Evidence Guards Beat Guantanamo Detainees – CBS News Press reports state Cerveny is 23 years old, was only assigned to assist in the defense of Guantanamo detainees in September, and that the incident she reported occurred on one of her visits to the base. The Department of Defense's Inspector General announced that another inquiry would be launched into detainee treatment, based on Cerveny's affidavit. Pentagon orders probe into Marine's report of Guantanamo detainee abuse, The Jurist, October 13, 2006 Previous inquiries, like the Schmidt report concluded that abuse at the camps was degrading, but did not rise to the level of "inhumane". Alleged Guantanamo Abuse Did Not Rise to Level of 'Inhumane', Department of Defense, July 13, 2005 Gag order Muneer Ahmad, the civilian lawyer for Omar Khadr, reported that Cerveny, and her boss, Colby Vokey, Khadr's military lawyer, had been ordered not to speak to the media pending Marine chief defense counsel Col. Carol Joyce's review of Cerveny's claims. 2 Ordered Not to Discuss Gitmo Claims, Washington Post, October 14, 2006 The report quotes a statement released by the Marines explaining that Col. Joyce: :... had directed himVokey not to communicate with the media "pending her review of the facts. This is necessary to ensure all actions of counsel are in compliance with regulations establishing professional standards for military attorneys." Basset report Colonel Richard Basset was the officer assigned to investigate the allegations in Cerveny's affidavit. Col. Submits Guantanamo Investigation: U.S. Army colonel completes, turns in report on Guantanamo abuse investigation, ''CBS News, December 10, 2006 He returned from his investigation on November 15, 2006. U.S. Army colonel investigating abuse allegations returns from Guantanamo, North Carolina Times, November 16, 2006 The Associated Press quoted one of Basset's superiors, who said Basset: "...interviewed guards and some detainees during a visit to the naval base in southeast Cuba. He also traveled around the U.S. to speak with guards who had left Guantanamo," Col. Submits Guantanamo Investigation, ''The Guardian, December 10, 2006 '' The report was submitted by Basset on December 10, 2006. and the results made public in February, 2008. The report recommended no disciplinary action against the five Army,and Navy men whom Cerveny accused in her affidavit as he asserted there was insufficient evidence to support Cerveny's claims. Based upon his findings through the investigation, Colonel Basset then accused Cerveny of filing false reports. On December 18, 2008 Fox News, MSNBC and other media outlets published an Associated Press story based on previously classified portions of Basset's inquiry they had acquired through a successful Freedom of Information Act request. had determined one of the men Cerveny had named had been part of the riot squad that had left a GI with brain damage who had been asked to masquerade as a detainee who represented a threat for a training exercise. The previously classified portions of the inquiry reported that another of the men had acknowledged abusing captives. According to Fox News Vokey reacted to the new information, saying: "the report shows the military ignored statements that undermined the sailors' denials." Fox News quotes spokesman Colonel William Costello saying he had nothing to add to "what we announced publicly almost two years ago." Fox News quoted Ben Wizner, of the American Civil Liberties Union, characterizing the original inquiry as "narrow", and pointed out that the inquiry hadn't reported the men hadn't abused captives, merely that there was "insufficient evidence" that they had bragged about doing so to Cerveny. See also *Guantanamo Bay detention camp *Sean Baker References External links *Video – Beatings Are 'Common' at Gitmo ABC News *Testimony of a Marine University of California, Davis Center for the Study of Human Rights in the Americas Category:Living people Category:1983 births Category:Guantanamo Bay detainment camp Category:Women in the United States Marine Corps Category:United States Marines